First, the background of the war: the feudal regime in Britain, France and medieval Europe generally practiced the feudal system. The king enfeoffed the land to a number of big noble (princes), and big noble enfeoffed the land to a number of small nobles (knights), forming a system of enfeoffment at different levels. Fencers and fencers have formed a certain obligation relationship. This feudal system is divided within the country, which seriously weakens centralization. Coupled with the intervention of the Roman church, the kingship of European countries is very fragile.
European feudal system
Britain and France are two representative feudal countries in the Middle Ages. In 843, the Frankish kingdom split, in which West Frankish was the foundation of later France. In the second half of the 9th century, Nordics invaded France continuously, and Paris was once captured. The Normans demanded a tribute of 13 from France. In order to resist foreign invasion, King Charles ordered local feudal nobles to build castles and train troops. From then on, the feudal aristocratic forces in France began to expand. In 9 1 1 year, Charles III of France was forced to cede the coastal area of France to the northern Europeans, and the Normans established the Norman Principality here, becoming the most powerful feudal separatist regime in France.
The Status of Norman Principality in France
In 987, the Cape Dynasty was established, and the royal family even declined. It only owns the "ile-de-france" in the middle reaches of the Seine River and the Royal River, with an area of only 2,000 square kilometers. At that time, in addition to Normandy, there were other major principalities in France, including Aquitaine, Burgundy, Brittany, Anjou, Champagne, Flanders and Toulouse. These princes nominally paid tribute to the French king, but in fact they were scattered and did not listen to orders.
12-14th century map of France
Britain was also formed in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons established seven small countries in England. In 827, in response to the Danish invasion, these seven countries merged into the Kingdom of England. But Britain did not win the war against Denmark. King Knut the Great of Denmark conquered Britain. 1035, Knut the Great died, Britain took the opportunity to become independent, and King Edward I of England came to power.
However, the good times did not last long. 1066 After Edward I of England's death in England, William of Normandy invaded Britain and soon entered London. At that time, William established himself as the king of England in London and was called William I, which was later called "Norman Conquest". Although William became the king of England, he was also the duke of France, so the Norman Dynasty was a great country that successfully crossed the English Channel. After the Norman Dynasty was established, William transplanted the French feudal system to Britain. A quarter of his land was ceded to the church, a seventh to the royal family, and his ten brothers occupied 10 land, and the rest were ceded to Norman nobles who followed the war.
British and French territories (yellow part)
After the Norman dynasty, Britain experienced the Anjou dynasty (Plantagenet dynasty), Lancaster dynasty and York family. These dynasties were established by Norman nobles and were the continuation of the Norman dynasty. During the Norman rule in England, the royal power was gradually weakened. 12 15, the nobles forced John to sign the magna carta, and the feudal separatist regime intensified. At the same time, Britain was gradually assimilated by France, and French became the common language of Britain.
Second, from local wars to total wars. In fact, before the Hundred Years' War, there were some local wars between Britain and France, which we can call the prelude to the Hundred Years' War. 1 199, John, the king of landless, succeeded to the throne of England, but Philip II, the king of France, supported another man named Arthur to be king of England, so the two countries began to confront each other. After the war began, the nobles of Norman and Anjou rebelled against England. John was defeated in the Battle of Buven, and Britain lost a lot of land in France. Soon, French King Louis VIII and some English nobles jointly attacked John. Soon after John died, Henry III succeeded to the throne and was forced to sign the Paris Agreement with France, thus surrendering to the French royal family.
John
After John, several English kings failed to recover the lost land of France. After Edward I of England succeeded to the throne, Britain's strength began to rise, and it continued to expand overseas. 1283, Britain annexed Wales, and then he intervened in the succession of the Scottish throne, which led to the first Scottish war. France sided with Scotland and formed a Scottish-French alliance, which destroyed Britain's plan to annex Scotland. 1328, Edward III launched the second Scottish War, and the contradiction between Britain and France further intensified.
1328, the French Cape dynasty was interrupted, and Philip, a descendant of the Valois family, succeeded to the throne, known as "Philip VI" in history, and the Valois dynasty was established (1328 ~ 1589). However, Philip IV's grandson Edward III also wanted to inherit the throne, so he led an army to attack France in 1337, which led to the war.
Edward III
The war is divided into three stages. The first stage, from 1337 to 1360, is mainly the competition between Flanders and Keane. At this stage, the British army was in full swing and made great strides all the way. In the Battle of Schloss in 1340, the British navy won a great victory and took control of the sea power in the English Channel. On the land side, the British army won the battle of keresey and captured the French fortress Calais; In the rear, the British won the second Scottish War. 1348, due to the influence of the Black Death, the two countries declared a ten-year truce. 1356, ten years later, the war broke out again and the French king John II was captured. At the same time, the social contradictions in France intensified, and the Paris Uprising and Zachary Uprising took place, which plunged the country into chaos. John had to sign the Bradini Peace Treaty with Britain, cede all the territory from the south of the Loire River to the Pyrenees, and compensate 3 million gold coins, while Britain gave up its claim to the French throne.
Hundred years war map
The second stage is 1364 to 1396. 1364, French Charles V succeeded to the throne. He strengthened military construction and tried to recapture lost ground. 1369, Charles V continued to attack British territory and won the Battle of Montier. By 1380, only the coastal areas were left in Britain. Due to the deterioration of the war, the British king chose to compromise and signed a 20-year armistice agreement with France on 1396. Britain only kept a few coastal strongholds such as Bordeaux, Bayonne, Brest, Cherbourg and Calais.
The third stage is 14 15 to 1453. 14 15, French Burgundy and Oman Jacques launched rebellion, and the second peasant uprising broke out. King Henry V of England took the opportunity to form an alliance with duke of burgundy and jointly attack France. The British army won soon. 1420, Henry V became the regent of France, and the whole of France almost became the territory of Britain. 1422, King Henry VI of England demanded to inherit the French throne, and the French organized an army to resist. The war turned into a French war of liberation.
Calais
At the beginning of the war, the British army won one after another, and the French and Scottish allied forces suffered a crushing defeat. 1429 The Battle of Orleans became a turning point in the war, and the French army began to counterattack. 1435, duke of burgundy betrayed the king of England and joined the French army, and the British army began to lose completely. Paris 1437 recovered; 1450, Norman area was recovered; By 1453, all the strongholds in Britain were lost except Calais.
Third, the impact of the war This war laid the pattern of Europe for the next few hundred years. France won the final victory of the war, achieved national reunification, and laid the foundation for France to become a hegemonic country on the European continent; However, Britain lost all its territory in the European continent, which made Britain no longer fall into the quagmire of European hegemonic war and provided stable conditions for domestic development. After the war, Britain began to pursue the policy of "continental balance of power" and actively developed into the ocean, which provided conditions for the formation of European maritime hegemony countries.
A hundred years' protracted war has seriously weakened the feudal aristocratic forces in the two countries and laid the foundation for the formation of centralization in the two countries. /kloc-Louis Xi and Charles VIII, who succeeded to the French throne in the second half of the 5th century, have the right to crack down on feudal forces. By the end of 15, the feudal regimes such as the Principality of Boken, Prudence, and Luxirong were merged and basically unified.
Constantly unified France (the green part is the royal territory)
In Britain, the "War of Red and White Roses" happened again after the war (1455-1485). Almost all feudal lords were involved in this war, weakening the feudal forces. 1485, Tudor, a distant relative of house of lancaster, won and established Tudor dynasty (1485- 1603). Due to the war, the nobility was greatly weakened, and the newly established Tudor dynasty became the first centralized dynasty in Britain.
/kloc-Britain in the late 5th century
The formation of centralization promoted the formation of a nation-state. In order to strengthen the economic strength of the royal family, France began to implement the "mercantilist" economic policy, canceled domestic tariffs, and gradually formed a unified market centered on Paris. The various ethnic groups in China are also constantly merging to form the French nation, and French based on Parisian dialect has also become the same language in France. The situation in Britain is also very similar, forming a unified market centered on London. The newly established Tudor dynasty gave up the use of French, and Britain based on London dialect became the national language.
Conclusion The Hundred Years' War is a protracted war between Britain and France for the ownership of Norman and other places, but the result of this war is that "flowers are planted with intention, but willows are planted unintentionally." On the territory, Britain lost all European land by launching this war. But for the kingship, this war was a win-win situation, because it weakened the feudal aristocratic forces of the two countries and laid the foundation for the establishment of a unified nation-state. At the same time, it also laid the future political development trend of Europe.